Reaching Across the Milky Way
by ksmurf
Summary: Sesshoumaru left Rin behind more than six years ago. Now Rin is 15, independent, and adventurous. When the two are reunited, will their feelings reach each other, or has time separated them too much? Continuation of my Rin one-shot 'Thinking in a New Light'.
1. Old Life, New Life

**A/N:** _Inuyasha_ is one of my favorite series. I wrote a one-shot a few months ago called _Thinking in a new light_ which was a one-shot focused on Rin. At the time, I thought that maybe I would do a longer story that focused on Rin and Sesshoumaru's relationship. And so I give you..._Reaching Across the Milky Way_!

Please enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** I don't any content from _Inuyasha_ or _Inuyasha – The Final Ac_t. Any original content or characters that resemble real persons or places is purely coincidental.

* * *

The warm, dry breeze ruffled Rin's hair as she made her way down the dirt road. She re-adjusted her straw hat to keep the shade on her face. It was no concern to her if she freckled, but Kohaku and Shippo would never let her hear the end of it if she came back tanned like an old, leather hide.

Rin glanced up at the sun's high position in the sky. She would have plenty of time to reach the village, even with a break for a midday meal. Spotting a tree just off the side of the road, Rin made her way to the space beneath the green branches and set down her bags. She leaned against the trunk and rummaged through her things until she found a few rice balls.

As she ate her snack, Rin looked out across at the countryside, taking in the distant mountains and admiring the white clouds drifting lazily across the sky. It was days like this that made traveling worthwhile: just wilderness, wildlife, and rice balls.

In the eight months since she started traveling to remote villages, Rin had gone through many new experiences. It had helped to take her mind off other, less enjoyable things.

...

It had been over a year ago, a few months after the spring festival where Rin, sporting Sesshoumaru's gift kimono, had caught the eyes of many young men in the village.

Kaede had fallen ill with a dry and winded cough, with little energy or appetite. Rin tended to her constantly for over a fortnight before Kaede showed signs of recovery. For another several weeks after, Rin forced Kaede to rest until she was convinced that the priestess was fit enough to move about normally. However, for the rest of the summer, Rin kept her eye on the old woman, ready to catch any hint of a symptom.

Sometime later, as the evenings started to carry a cold nip that foretold the coming of winter, Rin had returned from an errand in the village to find Kaede collapsed on the floor. The old priestess had no breath on her lips and Rin could not detect the thud of a heartbeat.

Struggling to hold back her tears, Rin had run to Kagome's home and practically into the young woman's arms. Concerned, Kagome sent Inuyasha to Kaede's hut. When he returned with an ashen look, Kagome also started to shed tears and Rin could hold back hers no longer. The two wept for the passing of their mentor and old friend.

Kagome offered to let Rin stay with her and Inuyasha, but Rin refused to leave the old priestess' hut. She remained withdrawn and rarely left the immediate area around her home. Her friends grew increasingly worried. Winter was on the way and Rin didn't look like she could take care of herself.

About a month after Kaede's death, Kagome called Rin to her home. She explained that she was having trouble keeping up with the additional responsibilities. Several requests had come from neighboring villages for medicines and small spiritual items. Would Rin be able to deliver and provide any aid as needed?

Rin accepted first that request, then a second and a third. Slowly she spent more and more time traveling and helping the sick and injured. As the winter months passed, she found herself falling into the new routine and leaving her grief behind.

Then last spring, news had come from a remote region that had been bit hard by the winter. They requested favors of the priestess, primarily healing skills and medicines. But the lady Kagome, expecting her second child, was in no position to make the journey. Rin volunteered to deliver the items in her place.

...

That had been some four months back. Rin had completed her round and would be returning home after this final village.

Wiping the rice crumbs from her face, Rin packed her items and prepared to leave. The wind blew some wisps of her in her face. She took one last look at the landscape and then set out.

She traveled for the rest of the day and the sun was already setting by the time she arrived in the village.

On the edge of the settlement, there was little sign of life. Burnt debris littered the ground and skeletal structures remained where homes had once stood. Rin quickly lifted her kimono sleeve to cover her face; the air was rank with decomposing material. Not far away, laid the form of a small animal, clearly a family pet. She blinked back tears as she surveyed the area. She was no stranger to destruction and suffering, but that didn't make it any easier to stomach.

Rin pressed on and within a few minutes, she had left the graveyard behind. The buildings here standing, but appeared to be held together with a patchwork of replacement wood. There were no people in the streets, but she could see signs of light behind closed doors and windows.

Looking for someone to speak to, Rin spotted an elderly man making his way down the path that ran through the center of the village. She quickened her pace and caught up with the old timer.

"Excuse me, do you know where I might find the leader of this village?" Rin asked in her best business manner.

The old man stopped and replied, "I am he. What business do you have with us?"

Rin pulled her straw basket from her back and opened the lid. "I come from Kagome-sama, bearing medicines and some small spiritual relics."

"Who is Kagome?" The village elder frowned in confusion. "You'd best be on your way; we have no money for a peddler's wares."

Closing the lid on the basket, Rin explained, still maintaining her professionalism, even in the face of the old man's slight to Kagome. "Kagome-sama is a powerful priestess. She stepped into the position after…", her mask faltered but she recovered and continued, "...after Kaede-sama passed on. There had been requests from this region for medicines and small talismans. I bring those items on her behalf."

The old man's brow furrowed even further. "I do recall the name of Kaede-sama and I am saddened to hear of her passing. However, we cannot accept these items, regardless of the good intention. He swept his arm to gesture at the village, "We have been attacked by bandits throughout the winter and now we have next to nothing. We have no means to pay you."

Rin smiled. "Kagome-sama does not require payment; just knowing that these were of use to you is more than enough for her."

"You would mock us and our strife?" Rin glanced as the old man's voice rose. "We may not have anything, but we still have our pride. Do you think us so far gone that we cannot get by without the pity of some unknown priestess?"

Despite having had this conversation many times in the past four months, Rin was still getting irritated. "Kagome-sama does not care about getting paid. She just wants to know that she was able to help you all in your time of need."

The old man glared, "And I am stating that we do not need a stranger's charity!"

By this point, their raised voices were drawing curious glances from doors that had suddenly become propped open.

Rin dropped her professional pretense. She understood that it was embarrassing to accept generosity from someone outside the village, and even more so to receive it gratuitously. That being said, this man's stubbornness was frustrating.

"I meant no offense, but I cannot leave this village without providing you with assistance." Rin smiled. "Do you think we could come to some sort of arrangement, perhaps some food and a place to stay for the night in exchange for some medicine?"

The old man seemed about to object, but a young couple leapt out from one of the homes, bearing a sick child. "Please! We'll give you some food, just please, help our son."

Rin turned to look at the child, whose breath was shallow. His skin had light sheen from his fever-induced sweat. "Please show me to your home. I'll administer the remedy there."

They hurried back to the couple's house, but several other families were looking on from the doorway and windows. Everyone clustered around as Rin crushed several of the herbs from her store and mixed them into a tea. Carefully, she fed the draught to the child. After a few minutes, the boy's breathing became regular and his complexion regained some color.

Rin wrapped some extra pieces of the herb in a piece of paper and handed them to the mother. "Crush these and add them to his tea at least twice a day. He should be alright in a couple days."

The mother and father bowed low. "Thank you! We didn't know what to do when he collapsed."

"It really is no trouble. " Rin felt a tug on her kimono and saw a small child who had snuck in. "What is it?"

"Will you look at my mommy?" The little girl's eyes were filled with worry.

Rin nodded. "Where is your mother?" The little girl gestured outside the house, so Rin packed up her things and readied to follow the child.

Just before she stepped out, the mother of the boy stopped her. "Please, when you are finished, come back. We will give you food and shelter for the night, to repay you for what you've done for our son."

"Of course," Rin smiled and then set out to help.

Hours later, Rin returned exhausted from treating many of the villagers. She could barely stay awake during the meal and was grateful when her hostess showed her to a futon. Minutes after she dropped into bed, her eyelids grew heavy and she was asleep soon after.

...

In her dream, Rin was young again, traveling carefree with Sesshoumaru through a field of golden flowers. Then suddenly, the field of flowers vanished and the trees were stripped of their leaves. Confused, Rin looked around and recognized it as Inuyasha's village. Naraku's miasma had destroyed all living things in the area and nothing had started to grow back yet.

She realized that Sesshoumaru had not stopped and she trotted after him, but she could not get close to him. He turned around and said, "Rin. Stay here."

Rin shook her head and started to run. "Wait, Sesshoumaru-sama, don't leave Rin here!" She tripped on a stone and fell, but landed on soft grass. The village was green again. This must have been three years after the jewel had disappeared, just before Kagome returned.

Rin picked herself up and ran after Sesshoumaru. He was even farther away. He turned again and held out a hand to her. Eagerly, twelve year old Rin reached out as well, but before she could get close, he said, "I must go away on business. I do not have time to visit you." Then he turned and continued walking.

"Wait! Sesshoumaru-sama! It's okay if Sesshoumaru-sama does not have time to visit Rin! Rin can wait!" Just as she started to gain on him, she stepped into a river and found herself submerged. When she surfaced, time again had passed. Rin's fifteen-year old self clamored out of the water. Off to the side, the lights of the village festival glowed in the distance.

Sesshoumaru spared her a glance and her clothing was suddenly replaced with a gorgeous kimono. He turned away for a final time. "Good-bye, Rin."

"Sesshoumaru-sama!" Rin called after him, but the dream had dissolved into a watery confusion.

...

A sudden clamor outside startled her awake. Outside the sounds of harsh yells mingled with terrified screams. She silently crawled out of bed, towards the window, and peeked into the darkness.

The street was filled with villagers, running in fear. There were also strangers, with armor and weapons. One stopped and turned to look straight at Rin, who dropped below the edge of the window sill.

Bandits!

She looked to the other occupants of the house, and found them huddled in a corner. Rin moved closer to them, but was only halfway when a figure in the doorway cast his shadow into the room. Rin recognized him as the bandit from only moments before.

He reached forward and grabbed Rin by her hair. "Well aren't you a pretty one?"

Rin winced as he pulled on her hair and called out to the family, "Go! I'll keep him busy!" They hesitated. "Go! I'll be fine."

The bandit swung his axe to block their escape. "No one's going anywhere."

Rin reached in to her obi and pulled out a small, sheathed knife. Quickly, she thrust the blade down into the man's foot, while reaching towards his face with her nails. Cursing, he staggered back, clutching his eyes and reaching to pull the knife out.

"Go, now!" Rin shouted at the clustered family. The couple gathered their son and ran out the door. Rin scrambled to the door as quickly as she could.

Just a few steps from the door, the bandit grabbed her again. This time, he held Rin's knife against her throat. "I'd like to see you try that again, girlie."

Rin bit into his arm hard, causing him to loosen his grip. She twisted out of his grasp and started running into the forest.

The forest was dark, but Rin had sure footing. She slowed her pace and turned to look back at the village. She needed to double back soon, to see if she could help any of the other villagers escape.

She crouched behind a tree and surveyed her options. Fires were breaking throughout the village and all the villagers were fleeing into the woods, many under pursuit by bandits. It looked like the far end of the village was largely unaffected. If there was a chance of saving anyone, it was there.

Preparing to head out, Rin stood and turned. A large branch swung out of the darkness, aimed at her head. Rin lost her balance as the blow connected and dropped to the ground.

The bandit stepped out of the shadows gripping the branch menacingly. "I found you, girlie."

Rin tried to focus on the man in front of her, but her vision was blurry and everything was spinning. She felt her instincts telling her to flee and she dragged herself a couple of feet away from the man, but the man's foot came down hard between her shoulder blades. She winced as he dug his heel into her back.

"I don't think so." He pulled his axe off his back. "You're a feisty one, that's for sure. I didn't think you'd pull that stunt with the knife." Raising the axe above his head, he grinned wildly "Normally, I'd say we should have a little fun, but you've made me mad, girlie, and I don't forgive, or forget."

Still disoriented, Rin clawed at the ground in front of her, looking for something that could be used as a weapon, but found nothing. She closed her eyes tightly and waited for the fall of the axe to bring the darkness.

But instead she felt the pressure from her back disappear and then heard an uncomfortable gurgling noise a short distance away. Suddenly, she felt herself being lifted off the ground, a maneuver that sent spots in front of her eyes. She could feel the cold steel of armor on one side and the warmth of cloth on the other, but her vision was still blurry.

With great effort, Rin turned her head upwards, to see who her hero (or captor) was. Feeling the darkness of unconsciousness creeping in, Rin caught only a glimpse of white hair and golden eyes. Relief washed over her as she relaxed and let herself fall asleep.

"Sesshoumaru-sama…"

* * *

**A/N:** There is Chapter 1. Please review and look forward to Chapter 2!


	2. Moving On

**A/N:** I didn't like the direction that the story was taking, so I decided to rewrite it from chapter 2. I wanted to keep the story more true to the original series, with fewer original characters, but it was very difficult (nigh impossible) to get the story back on track with what I had started. So I rewrote from Chapter 2 on. Thank you for understanding, and I'm sorry for the inconvenience.

**Disclaimer:** I don't any content from _Inuyasha_ or _Inuyasha _– _The Final Ac_t. Any original content or characters that resemble real persons or places is purely coincidental.

* * *

_"Do you think she'll wake up soon?"_

Rin's eyes flickered open. Her vision was blurry, but she could see Kagome's and Kohaku's faces. They turned towards her with smiles.

Kohaku grabbed her hand. "Are you feeling better, Rin?"

Rin sluggishly tried to sit up, but was pushed back by her nurses. Kagome shook her head. "You need to rest. That was a pretty bad blow to the head that you took." Rin looked around and noticed that she was in Kagome's home.

"How did I get out of there?" Rin brushed the back of her head and felt a lump. "I thought I was dead for sure."

Kagome frowned. "You mean you don't remember? That's not good."

"Well, I remember getting hit in the head, and the rest of it is pretty fuzzy after that." Rin concentrated. "But I think someone saved me." She focused on what had happened and from her hazy memories the images of white hair with golden eyes bubbled to the surface. She sat up suddenly and shifted out of bed, despite feeling slightly dizzy. "Is he outside? I need to go thank him."

Kohaku and Kagome shared a glance. Kohaku puts a hand on her shoulder, "Rin, there's something we need to tell you."

Rin moved out from under his grip. "I need to give my thanks before he leaves. He's outside, right?" She stood and moved to the door.

"Rin-chan, I don't think that's such a good idea…"Rin headed outside despite Kagome's protests.

A short distance away from the hut, she caught the glimmer of white hair in the breeze: a figure in the shade beneath a large tree. Rin set out at a reasonable pace, stopping only once or twice to recover from short spells of dizziness. Soon, she was standing right behind him.

Not sure what to say, she twiddled her thumbs before she bowed. "Thank you for saving me in that village," she looked up, "Inuyasha-sama."

Inuyasha turned around to face her, his expression suspicious. "Eh?"

Rin straightened up. "Thank you for saving me. If there's any way that I can make it up to you, please let me know."

His expression turned to one of complete and utter confusion. "Did you hit your head that hard?"

"That's rude!" Rin huffed in annoyance. "I'm just offering my thanks."

He crossed his arms. "And I'm telling you that you've hit your head too hard." He sighed. "You're thanking the wrong guy."

Now it was Rin's turn to be confused. "But I remember white hair and golden eyes. If it wasn't you, then.." It slowly dawned on her and she looked around excitedly. "Is he still here?"

"Sesshoumaru left as soon as it was clear that you would be fine." Kohaku had joined the pair.

With a rush of disappointment, Rin felt wobbly on her feet, but Kohaku caught her before she fell. She smiled her gratitude as her helped her sit down on a tree root.

Worry was written on Inuyasha's face. "Should I get Kagome?"

Rin shook her head, "I'll be fine." She laughed a little. "I guess I should have stayed in bed."

Then she turned to Kohaku again. "Sesshoumaru-sama already left?" She pouted. "I wish he'd stay longer. He never says 'hello' anymore."

Looking awkward, Inuyasha made an excuse to leave. "I'll go see if Kagome has anything for your head." As he passed the two teenagers he paused to give Kohaku a meaningful look. Kohaku nodded and Inuyasha left.

"Spill, Kohaku." Rin stared at her friend. "I can tell that everyone is holding something back from me."

Kohaku coughed and looked away. "Rin, I'm not sure how to tell you."

Rin sighed. "What is it? You don't have to spare me. I'm already 16. Whatever it is that you want to tell me, I can handle it."

"Sesshoumaru isn't coming back." Kohaku said abruptly. "When he brought you back, he told us that he wasn't going to visit you anymore. No more gifts. No more visits."

Not sure what she'd just heard, Rin sat silent for a minute. Kohaku peered at her. "Rin?"

"Did Sesshoumaru-sama tell you this himself?" She asked carefully. Fear was beginning to pool in the pit of her stomach. He wouldn't really leave her.

"Not him, exactly. Jaken was the one that actually conveyed the message." Rin sighed with relief as Kohaku leaned back and looked at the sunlight through the branches. "He didn't mention why, but we all think this is the right thing."

Rin looked at him sharply as he continued. "To be honest, we all think that you're better off here than living with demons all the time."

"How can you say that?" Rin asked, anger hedging into her voice. "In case you've forgotten, Inuyasha-sama is also a demon."

Kohaku shrugged. "That's different." He held up a hand to stop Rin's interruption. "Kagome lives with Inuyasha, but they live with humans. A life with demons is unpredictable, violent, and dangerous."

"It's exciting, adventurous, and interesting," Rin corrected. "You're just prejudiced because you have to fight the dangerous demons all the time. Sesshoumaru-sama would never let me come to harm."

"You don't know that, Rin." Kohaku said. "Jaken said it was just a coincidence that Sesshoumaru was in the area when that village was attacked and that he was able to save you."

"I don't believe that. Sesshoumaru-sama has always been there to save me when it matters." Rin crossed her arms.

Kohaku sighed in exasperation. "Rin, he's not the hero you seem to think he is. Sesshoumaru lives in a cruel world where injury and death are common."

"But Sesshoumaru-sama is kind. I know he is." Rin frowned. "I am disappointed, Kohaku. I thought you knew better."

"I know you think Sesshoumaru is kind, but not all demons are like that. Can't you see that he is trying to spare you from the hardship of living in a demon's world?"

She stubbornly shook her head. "That's not for him to decide. I'm an adult - I can make my own decisions. Besides, I won't believe it unless I hear it from Sesshoumaru-sama himself."

Kohaku dropped his head in his hands. "There's no convincing you, is there?"

Smiling, Rin stood slowly. "Nope." She started to walk away and called over her shoulder. "I can count on you to help me find him, right?"

Kohaku's head jerked back up, his face aghast. He watched as Rin walked back to the village, concerned for his friend.

* * *

It has taken Rin some time to convince Kagome that she was well enough to travel and even then, Rin didn't mention where she was going. She swore Kohaku to secrecy. Preparations made, there was one thing left to do.

Early on the morning of her departure, Rin made her way to the shade of a familiar tree. There was dew on the grass and even the birds were quiet.

Rin knelt in front of a small grave, clapped her hands together several times and bowed. "Hello, Kaede-sama." She looked up. "I'm sorry I haven't visited since…" her voice trailed off as it grew choked.

Taking a deep breath, she started again. "Anyway, I'm sorry it's taken me so long to see you." She dropped her hands into her lap, but stayed crouched before the marker.

"I'm going to see Sesshoumaru-sama." She traced a finger in the dirt. "I want to find what his intentions are for myself.

"I always assumed that he would come for me when I grew up, that we would travel around, having adventures - like the old days." She watched several birds glide overhead. "But Kohaku says that I'm supposed to stay here, that it's safer than living with Sesshoumaru-sama.

"Did you know that he was intending to leave me here? That he wasn't going to come back for me?" She frowned. "But I don't think it will come to that. Even if Jaken says that Sesshoumaru-sama wants me gone, I won't trust anything that little green kappa says."

The dark feelings started to pool in the pit of her stomach again as a shadow crossed her thoughts. "What if I do catch up to him and he really doesn't want anything to do with me? What if he does think that I'm only a nuisance?

"I don't know if I can handle being left alone again," she whispered. Her life had never been harder in the first few weeks after the old priestess had passed, after losing the first maternal figure in her life.

The cool dawn wind rustled through her hair, comforting her. "You're right, I know that I have Kohaku and the others. " She smiled.

She raised her hands in prayer again. "It will be a while before I can visit again, so take care." She remained that way for a few minutes.

Someone came up behind her and Rin stood. "Kohaku, I'm ready."

* * *

Rin and Kohaku were drifting through the sky on Kirara's back. It was peaceful and quiet, but for Kohaku, it was painfully awkward. He opened his mouth to say something, but found his throat wouldn't work. He coughed once and tried again. "Sesshoumaru-sama was last seen going this way. Hopefully we'll run into someone who has also seen him."

Rin nodded from behind him, but didn't say anything. Kohaku could tell from the look in her eyes that she was blissfully waiting to be reunited with her former guardian. He fidgeted as he tried to figure out how to broach the subject. In the end, he gritted his teeth and took a deep breath.

"Are you sure you want to be doing this?" he said.

Rin frowned. "Why are you bringing this up again? I told you that I'm going to meet up with Sesshoumaru-sama, whether you and the others like it or not."

"Why don't you heed our advice? We're not trying to control your life - we just want to make sure that you're aware of the consequences of this decision."

"And what are the consequences of this decision, exactly?" Rin raised a brow and placed a fist on her hip. "We've already covered that I think you are all being paranoid about my safety. I told you that I can protect myself."

Kohaku shook his head. "I know there's no convincing you about it; that wasn't what I was talking about."

"Then what?" Rin's irritation subsided as curiosity took over.

"Well," Kohaku coughed once again. "Physical danger aside, have you considered the emotional strife you're getting into?" Rin stayed silent, so Kohaku pressed on. "What I mean is, do you know if Sesshoumaru-sama returns your feelings?"

"What?" Rin responded sharply out of surprise. "We don't have that kind of relationship. Sesshoumaru-sama is like the father I never had." She pondered for a moment, "Well, not quite like a father because he's more lenient. So, more like an uncle or an older cousin."

"Are you sure that's all it is?" Kohaku asked. "The girls in the village seemed to think it was a bit more than that."

Rin brushed him off. "The girls in the village will say anything. They don't like me."

"What I meant to say was that I think it seems more than what you believe." Kohaku blushed a bit, but he hid it behind a pretend gesture to scratch his nose.

Rin tried to peer around him, without success. "Why do you think that?"

Kohaku steadied himself; he was in this all or nothing. "I've seen the way that he looks at you. I wouldn't say that he treats you like an older cousin or uncle would."

"And what makes you the expert on how Sesshoumaru-sama feels about me?" Rin pushed back, hoping to deter Kohaku from continuing much farther down the line of conversation.

Kohaku was rendered speechless momentarily as he tried to make a decision: tell her how he felt and get the rejection over with, or not tell her and maintain their easy relationship.

"There! What was that?" Rin pointed excitedly at a patch of forest. Kohaku sighed in relief, glad that he could postpone his dilemma.

Kohaku looked at where she was pointing, but the trees looked identical to the other trees. "I don't see anything."

"I just saw a flash of white. What if it was Sesshoumaru-sama?" Rin patted the large fire cat. "Kirara, take us down!"

"Rin, there's nothing there," Kohaku said, but he decided to humor her anyway. Maybe she would get this out of her system once she saw that her precious lord was not going to pop out of the woodwork.

The trio touched down and Rin slid off of Kirara's back. She looked around with increasing disappointment. "I promise you that I saw something white here. I honestly thought it might have been Sesshoumaru-sama."

"I believe you, "Kohaku said. "But, I think we should get back in the sky because we have a better vantage point from up there."

Rin pouted slightly, but then smiled apologetically. "Could you wait a few minutes? There is some...ah...personal business I need to attend to."

Kohaku nodded. "Don't go too far."

"I won't." Rin started walking away from the clearing, but as soon as she was out of eyesight, the flash of white appeared again. "Sesshoumaru-sama," she whispered.

She looked back in the direction of the clearing and then back at the disappearing silver hair. "I'm sorry Kohaku," she said as she ran after the pale figure.

* * *

Bored, Kohaku leaned against Kirara. "What is taking her so long?"

Kirara playfully pushed him, as if to say that he shouldn't inquire about that sort of thing. Kohaku smiled, but then suddenly felt a tingle in the back of his neck. A demon was nearby. In the direction that Rin had gone.

"I think she should have been back by now." Kohaku pulled out his scythe. "Personal business or not, I'm going after her." Then he followed Rin's path into the forest.

* * *

After minutes of a sprinting chase, Rin was starting to lose sight of the figure in front of her. Afraid that she would lose it entirely, she called out: "Sesshoumaru-sama!"

The figure stopped abruptly and turned to face her. Rin's smile turned to a look of horror. This gnarled, skeletal, gray monster was not Sesshoumaru. It turned its red eyes on her and grinned with a mouth of pointed fangs.

Rin turned to run, but the monster was much faster. A quick blow to her stomach and Rin was knocked unconscious.

* * *

Kohaku raced through the dense forest, following Rin's tracks, but they suddenly stopped. He scanned the area for signs of a struggle. His fears were confirmed when he saw clawed demon foot prints around the last set of Rin's steps.

From the looks of it, there were no signs of blood; it was likely that she was mostly unhurt. But, there was no telling how long the demon would keep her alive. Most demons in this area lived in the most barbaric sense imaginable. He would need to hurry.

"Kirara!" The cat was there in a second and he hopped on. "Let's go!"

As they became airborne, Kohaku hoped it wasn't too late.


	3. Reunion

**A/N:** Out of all the chapters, this one obviously has the most rewritten. I'm still going to include the palace life aspect, but just at a later point. I'm much happier with how Rin and Sesshoumaru's relationship is progressing in this version.

**Disclaimer:** I don't any content from _Inuyasha_ or _Inuyasha _– _The Final Ac_t. Any original content or characters that resemble real persons or places is purely coincidental.

* * *

Rin blearily opened her eyes and felt the room spin around her. She shut her eyes again, but this did not stop the spinning sensation. She blinked a few times and noticed that it was not the room that was spinning, but herself.

She appeared to be strung upside down in some sort of cave that was littered with bones. Rin quivered in fear as she noticed some human skeletons piled in a corner. A skittering noise drew her attention to the back of the cave, where she could make out a figure scrabbling around in the shadows.

As if noticing her gaze, the demon turned towards her and she caught a glimpse of the glowing yellow eyes that she had mistaken for Sesshoumaru's golden ones. Rin quickly shut her eyes so that the demon would think she was still asleep. It seemed to work because the demon went back to its rummaging.

Taking deep breaths and trying not to gag, Rin tried to think of a way out of this situation. It was that or become food.

Thankfully, the demon had not thought to tie hands and she reached for her pocket knife. Unfortunately, as she pulled it out of it's sheath, it slipped through her fingers and clanged onto the floor.

The demon reacted to the sound instantly and moved quickly towards her, claws extended. Heart pounding, Rin waited until he was within a few steps. Then she whipped out her second knife and slashed at the demon's face.

A bloody welt appeared over one of the demon's eyes and it backed away, screaming in agony and clutching it's useless eye. Rin took the opportunity to swing her torso up to her feet and cut herself loose. She collapsed onto the floor and tried to stand, but the blood flow to her feet had been cut off and she urgently tried to massage feeling back into her legs.

Having recovered from the original attack, the demon approached Rin, now fully enraged. Rin frantically tried to pull herself to her feet, but the demon lunged.

* * *

Kohaku tracked the demon back to a cave and hurriedly landed Kiara. He rushed in the cave, "Rin!"

To his surprise, Rin was standing above the decrepit body of her attacker, knife dark with black blood. She smiled confidently. "See? I told you that I could defend myself from monsters." She moved to her pack and bent down to find something to wipe her blade on.

Kohaku glanced down at the demon to identify the species. His eyes widened in alarm. Those particular demons always worked in pairs, so where was the other one? He looked up just in time to see the second demon leap from the shadows, fangs bared. "Rin!"

Rin turned quickly, but lost her balance in the process, landing on the ground and unable to move out of the way. Kohaku launched himself towards her, hoping to at least to cover her, but before he could move a step, the attack stopped.

Sesshoumaru stood in front of Rin, with the second demon in his clawed grip. The demon struggled, but Sesshoumaru glared at the creature and in no more than a second, he snapped its neck and tossed it aside.

Kohaku went over to Rin and helped her sit up. "Are you okay?" He leaned her against his chest, since she was in shock. Whether from the demon attack or from the sudden appearance of her white knight, he wasn't sure.

Sesshoumaru stood a few paces away, watching the pair of them carefully.

"Sesshoumaru-sama…" Rin whispered from within Kohaku's grasp. She tried to move towards the demon lord, but Kohaku held her fast. "Kohaku, what are you doing?" She struggled. "Let me go!"

She twisted her head to look at Sesshoumaru, "Sesshoumaru-sama, tell him to let me go!"

After a moment, Sesshoumaru's expression cooled. "Kohaku, escort her home. She does not belong here."

Rin froze. She hadn't expected a warm reception, but the possibility of outright rejection hadn't crossed her mind. Her head and shoulders drooped as Sesshoumaru walked away. When he was gone, her body started to quake.

"Rin?" Kohaku peered closely at his friend. "Are you okay?"

He nearly missed having his nose smashed as Rin whipped her head up, her eyes angry and her face determined. "Oh no, you're not getting rid of me that easily."

She jumped up and ran out of the cave. Looking to the sky, she spotted Sesshoumaru's white form drifting away with the clouds. "Come on, we can still catch up to him!" After a few seconds of silence, Rin turned back around to see Kohaku standing next to Kirara.

"What are you doing? We will lose him if we don't leave now."

But the demon hunter stood his ground. "I won't help you get involved with him."

Rin glared at her friend and squared her shoulders. "If you're not going to help, that's fine," she said before stomping away.

"You're not going to catch up with him that way!"

"I know what I'm doing!" She yelled back. She cupped her hands around her ears, listening for some far-off sound. She lifted two fingers to her lips and blew. A sharp pitch whistled through the air. Rin dropped her arm and waited. A minute later, she was rewarded for her effort.

The great two-headed dragon, A-Un, descended from the sky, with a whining rider. "A-Uh, you stupid dragon, what do you think you are doing?" Jaken kicked his short legs against the beast with no result.

"Wherever Sesshoumaru-sama goes, Jaken is sure to follow - far behind." Rin smiled and walked up to A-Un, extending her arms. The two heads sniffed her hands and then started to butt her gently with their heads. Rin giggled. "It is good to see you again."

Having taken notice of the exchange, Jaken sputtered, "Rin, what are you doing here? I thought you were back in that village!"

"Oh really. So it was you that told Inuyasha-sama and the others that nonsense." She reached up and plucked Jaken from his seat. "Thanks for brining A-Un here."

She tossed Jaken towards Kohaku, who caught him messily. "Kohaku, take care of the kappa for me." She jumped into the saddle and shook the reins. With a rush of wind, A-Un took to the sky. "Sesshoumaru-sama, you're not leaving me behind - not this time."

The ground fell away as Rin and the dragon sped after the figure in the distance. The wind whistled in her ears as they started to gain ground. It was clear that Sesshoumaru hadn't detected them, or at the very least, didn't care that they were following.

"Sesshoumaru-sama!" Rin called out, certain that Sesshoumaru would pick out her voice, even at the extended range.

He ignored her.

Furious, Rin urged A-Un to fly faster, but they could only match Sesshoumaru's pace at best. Rin could see that they would not be able to make up the distance, especially now that he was going full speed. It was a good thing she had prepared, although not this exact scenario.

Quickly, she pulled a length of rope from her shredded pack and tied one end around her waist. Then, she looped the other end around A-Un's reins. She took the opportunity to glance over the side of the dragon and gulped at the distance. The rope wouldn't provide much protection, if worst came to worst.

"Please let me be right about this." Rin took a deep breath and then swung herself out of the saddle.

A scream had barely passed her lips when she stopped falling. Still reeling from the heady rush of having just jumped into midair, it took her a minute for her vision to clear. Once it did, she latched onto folds of white and red fabric. "I caught you!"

Irritated, Sesshoumaru glared. "Let go of my robe. I am putting you back on the creature and he will take you back to the little demon slayer."

"No you won't." Rin held on tighter. "I'm not going anywhere until we talk."

The deadpan Sesshoumaru almost scowled. "We have nothing to discuss."

Rin frowned, but didn't let go of his kimono. "Really? Because I've heard rumors that you've been trying to leave me in Inuyasha-sama's village." She tilted her head slightly. "If you expect me to accept your decision, I would at least like to know why."

Before he had a chance to respond, she released one hand and pointed an accusing finger at him. "And don't tell me that it's for my protection because demons are dangerous. In case you hadn't noticed, humans aren't much safer!"

She suddenly felt her anger rising as she continued to rant. "I can take care of myself. Didn't I show you that when I was a child? I'm an adult now - I can defend myself even better now and I don't need you to make decisions for me.

"If your concern is that I'll get hurt, then let me tell you something. Leaving me with Inuyasha-sama isn't going to help. I solemnly promise that I will get up to no good, every day for the rest of my life. I will make you see that it's safer to let me stay with you."

Rin took a breather as Sesshoumaru's eyes widened in shock. What had spawned this monstrosity?

After a moment, she let go of his robe and smiled at him, suddenly looking more like the little girl that Sesshoumaru remembered. "If you really want to leave me behind, I want to hear it from your personally - not from Jaken, or Inuyasha-sama, or Kohaku."

Though a second later, she was back to admonishing him. "But if that's the case, you shouldn't have made a promise to a little girl who would wait six years to go back with you on traveling adventures. If you are going to abandon me, I want a very good reason."

"You are human. You belong with other humans." Sesshoumaru looked blankly at her.

Rin huffed. "You said that I could choose whether I wanted to stay with Kagome and the others after I spent some time with them. You're making the decision for me." She furrowed her brow. "I choose to travel with you."

Sesshoumaru frowned slightly and Rin pressed on. "Or at the very least, if you're going to make some argument that the demon world is dangerous and that I don't know how dangerous it is, then you have to let me travel for you."

She held up her index finger. "One year. Let me travel with you for one year. That will give me enough time to see the demon side of the world for myself. After that, I'll make my decision." She hid a grin; she had no intention of going back to the humans permanently, but at least she could given Sesshoumaru-sama the impression that she was considering it.

Sesshoumaru sighed, defeated. "Do as you wish."

"Really? I'm glad that's settled!" Then she noticed that she was being dumped back onto A-Un. Her smile disappeared. "What are you doing? I thought we had agreed that I was stay with you."

"You will ride on the dragon."

"Oh." Rin blushed with embarrassment from having behaved like a child who was afraid of being abandoned by its mother.

Once she was securely back in the saddle, Rin started to remove the rope, but she was stopped by Sesshoumaru's hand. "You might need that." Then he brushed by her, leaving A-Un in his wake.

Quick to catch up, Rin tried to fathom what happened. _What did he mean by that?_ Then it clicked. "I purposely jumped off the dragon, you know - I didn't just fall off!"


	4. Fly High and Fly Far

**A/N: **I felt that the story was winding away from the core of what I wanted to capture, so before it completely escaped me, I rewrote the first few chapters, starting from chapter 2. I'm really sorry for the inconvenience, but I hope you'll understand.

(For those who wanted to see more of Rin in the palace life, don't fret - that will come back, just at a more appropriate time. =P)

This contains the last of the rewrite, along with some new content! Rin finally starts out on her adventure with Sesshoumaru-sama. Let's watch over her, because I feel she'll need some luck...

**Disclaimer:** I don't any content from _Inuyasha_ or _Inuyasha _– _The Final Ac_t. Any original content or characters that resemble real persons or places is purely coincidental.

* * *

The sky was blue, the few clouds drifting around were puffy white, the sun was shining, and there was absolutely nothing that could ruin Rin's mood. She had just caught up to Sesshoumaru-sama and he had agreed to let her stay with him. Well, it was only for a year, but that was more than enough time to convince him that she should stay with him.

Sesshoumaru suddenly stopped and looked to the east. Rin pulled A-Un up next to him. "Sesshoumaru-sama?"

"Stay here," he commanded and started to move away.

"No."

He looked back to see a determined Rin poised to take flight with A-Un. He frowned slightly. "Stay here."

"No." Rin shook her head. "What is the point of my traveling with you for a year if I'm not even going to be exposed to demon nature?"

"This is dangerous; stay here where it is safe. I will return." He turned to leave again, but was held back by one of Rin's tirades.

"I am not a child anymore! I can take care of myself and I won't be a burden to you." Rin crossed her arms. "At least, no more of a burden than Jaken is."

From farther down A-Un's back, Jaken sputtered. "Ho-ho-how dare you! Unlikely you, I am a full-fledged demon. Although I may be of small stature, at least I passed the test!"

"Jaken." Sesshoumaru almost growled in annoyance, but the little demon didn't notice.

A twinkle formed in Rin's eyes. "Test? What test?"

Jaken smugly explained, "The great test that every demon in service to Sesshoumaru-sama's family must pass before they are employed. Great demons such as Sesshoumaru-sama can pass this test when they are but children. However, you, as a human, would never be able to complete the trial."

Rin latched onto this information greedily. "So, if I pass the test, then I would be on the same level as a competent servant. If that was the case, then you could have no complaint about me accompanying you into dangerous situations, would you, Sesshoumaru-sama?"

Sesshoumaru was giving Jaken the death glare and the little demon squirmed under the pressure. After a few moments, Sesshoumaru tightly replied. "If you pass the test, you will not need to stay behind except in the most dangerous of situations." Rin beamed. "Jaken will administer the test."

With that he floated away, leaving behind the distraught Rin and Jaken.

* * *

Without any sort of an explanation, Jaken brought Rin to a random bit of landscape. Mysteriously and reluctantly, he procured a white strip of fabric and handed it to her. Rin looked at him quizzically.

"All servants must go through a trial period, during which they must wear the white sash. Once they have completed the trial period, they take the test and then are allowed to discard the trainee sash. I won't have you make a mockery of this tradition, so you will wear the sash as well."

He turned back front and crossed his arms, pouting. "You are lucky Sesshoumaru has been so kind to you thus far. But it won't matter, since no human could pass _hiko no shiren_."

"What is _hiko no shiren_?" Rin stretched, limbering up for whatever challenge the test posed.

"That is the name of the test that you must pass. Any demon that wants to be considered for servitude under Sesshoumaru-sama or his family needs to jump across a gorge to the west of the castle. Failure means death-"

"I just need to pass _hiko no shiren_ then?" Rin interrupted optimistically. Any test that Jaken had passed couldn't possibly be that difficult. "Where do I find this gorge?"

Jaken glowered at her. "Travel due west from here. An expert such as yourself should easily be able to locate it," he quipped a bit sarcastically.

* * *

Rin's hair whipped around her as A-Un coasted through the air. She shivered slightly in the late summer wind, but then she caught sight of her destination.

A great expanse of canyon opened below her; the region was completely devoid of flora and fauna, with sharp outcroppings scattered along the crevice. Rin looked into the chasm, it dropped off into darkness before reaching the bottom. Rin felt butterflies well up in her stomach and she turned A-Un away to find someplace to land.

Suddenly, a gust of wind picked up, almost pushing Rin off of A-Un. She desperately grabbed on to the reins as she slid to the side, pulling A-Un forcefully. The dragon made a sharp turn to follow the weight on the lead, but Rin scrambled back up and tugged in the opposite direction.

"A-Un, down." She directed them to the edge of the gap and took a minute to rest while her heart stopped pounding. Maybe it would be better to continue looking for the spot on foot.

Jaken had said that ordeal happened where the canyon was the widest. On one side of the canyon, she should be able to see the victory circle, marked by knives dug into the ground, with the trial period sashes tied around the hilts.

After only a few minutes, Rin saw a series of white sashes fluttering in the wind. From across the canyon, they appeared no larger than tiny hair ribbons. The distance was daunting; even a demon like Inuyasha would have difficulty crossing. Kouga would have been able to clear it back when the _Shikon no Tama_ was around, but without the shards, Rin wasn't sure.

A-Un came up behind her and gave her gentle nudges. She draped her arm over one of the heads and rubbed the other. "There must be some trick to it. I know that Sesshoumaru-sama expects the best, but I can't imagine that he would approve of senselessly killing potential servants by asking them to jump across this." After all, how strong were servants like Jaken supposed to be anyway?

She crept up the edge and looked down into the black abyss. None of her surroundings provided her with any sort of hint and she sighed. Reaching down, she grabbed a handful of sand and tossed it out into the open space. The grains fell straight down.

Rin crossed her arms and frowned. Then she gathered up some more sand before climbing onto A-Un. She urged them to fly right at the top of the drop. As they started across, she slowly scattered the sand, but it all fell directly into the darkness. Discouraged, Rin watched the last of the grains disappear and let A-Un continue to the other side.

About third of the way through, A-Un stopped and started to twitch. Rin could feel the tension rising and gave their necks a pat. "What's the matter? Everything's okay-" Then a sudden wind from below pushed A-Un and flung Rin into the air.

"A-Un!" She screamed at the dragon, but she had been thrown too far. She scrunched her eyes closed, prepared for the worse. Then, she felt herself being cushioned softly and then thrown again. Briefly, she opened her eyes and saw that she was speeding towards the victory circle instead of down into the depths of the gorge.

Seconds later, she crashed into the dirt, just past the knives. She gasped while she caught her breath. A-Un landed next to her and crooned in concern. She smiled back. "Don't worry, I'm fine."

After a few minutes, she had regained her composure enough to get on A-Un and return to the other side. Slowly, she navigated A-Un through the same path as before, flying and dropping sand. Before they reached the midpoint, she moved A-Un away from the direct path and tossed some sand where she had been flung previously. "Let's see what happens here."

The sand fell straight down. Confused, Rin threw some more and the sand dropped again. Rin frowned. "Did I get the position wrong?" She guided A-Un closer to the same spot as before. There was nothing.

"I am sure this was the place -" she was interrupted by the huge blast of wind which narrowly missed the dragon. Rin backed them away as the wind died down. She patted both of A-Un's necks to calm them down. "It's okay."

She waited a few minutes and the blast happened again. A-Un circled for another set of minutes for the blast to happen again. Rin carefully counted the seconds between blasts. It seemed to happen consistently every two hundred seconds or so.

"One hundred ninety-eight...one hundred ninety-nine..." Rin tossed some sand and watched as it was whisked away. Shading her eyes, she was able to see that the large blast pushed the sand farther across the gorge. Around two-thirds across, there appeared to be another, softer blast, that carried the sand the rest of the way.

Rin smiled. "I knew there had to be some trick; Jaken couldn't have crossed it on his own." Her smile disappeared as she looked back at the starting spot. There was still a good hundred meters between the first air blast and the edge of the gorge. If she could make it to the first air pocket, she would be able to make it the rest of the way.

The problem was getting a third of the way across. But, the sun was already low in the sky, so Rin set up a small camp near the canyon. After a quick meal, she laid out her makeshift bed next to A-Un. She quickly stripped down to her under things and crawled into her bed.

Once under her blanket, she stared into the inky sky, sprinkled with twinkling stars, preoccupied with the day's events. It was only that morning when she had left with Kohaku in search of Sesshoumaru and now she was trying to pass a seemingly impossible test to prove she could keep up with him.

Any strong demon could jump the distance to the first wind burst, but it was out of the question for a human. She would need a trick of her own if she wanted to pass the trial.

Rin rolled over and tried to fall asleep.

* * *

Rin awoke to the sound of twittering birds and a distant howl of wind. She sat up and stretched, refreshed after a night of decent sleep. Her bright morning was interrupted by an annoying green kappa.

"Sesshoumaru will return this evening. At that time I will administer the test one time." He tapped his staff on the ground. "You have until then to practice."

With no further ado, he stalked away before Rin could ask him anything.

Rin sighed. A short deadline was the last thing she needed, but there was no use complaining. She quickly got dressed, had breakfast and then hopped on A-Un.

The first order of business was to practice traveling from the first blast to the second, and then landing so she wouldn't be impaled on the victory circle. She was lucky that her accident yesterday hadn't killed her.

Once A-Un was in position, Rin carefully counted and then jumped off. Her heart dropped into her stomach, but before she could scream, she was bounced upwards. The wind carried her to the next spot and she was once again tossed unceremoniously towards the victory circle.

Prepared, she oriented herself so she would land feet first. As she got close to the collection of knives, she extended her feet, and landed between the blades, before pushing off and summersaulting away outside the circle.

Rin rolled for a few feet and came to a stop. A-Un flew and landed next to her. "I'm okay. That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be." She shook out her limbs and got to her feet. "Just a few more times."

A few more times was all it took until Rin could reliably not kill herself on the landing. Standing after her last landing, she stared down the gorge. Now all she had to do was figure out how to get to the blast point without flying on A-Un.

She slipped into the saddle and brought A-Un back to the starting point. The first order of business was making sure that she wouldn't fall to her doom while attempting the jump. She rummaged through her pack and found a length of rope. It wasn't nearly long enough to cover the hundred meters she would need to go, but it would stop her from plummeting all the way down when she was sure to miss.

She found a tree close to the starting point and tied one end of the rope around the thick trunk. Then she tied the other end around her waist. Then she walked, determinedly to the edge of the chasm. The wind blew fiercely, tugging her hair in all different directions. The darkness swarmed at the bottom of the ravine, holding some unknown terror.

Rin rolled her shoulders back, walked to the edge. She took a deep breath, whispered a prayer and jumped.

She didn't have a chance to scream in horror as she free fell straight into the oblivion before the rope caught her and knocked all of the air from her lungs. Having stopped her descent, the rope pivoted on the edge of the gorge and swung her against the rocky cliff side.

"Ugh." Rin grunted and tried to get her bearing. Although she had hoped there would be some sort of wind magic that would help her get to the first blast, that didn't appear to be the case. She grabbed the taut line and began to climb back to the top.

"There must be some other air pocket around here somewhere. There's no way that Jaken could make it that far." Rin pouted in thought.

"Actually, I can make it that far on my own."

Rin whirled around to see the cocky little demon smirking at her. She turned back around and announced defiantly. "I don't believe you."

"Watch." Jaken walked calmly to the starting circle and tapped the end of his staff into the ground. One of the faces screamed and projected a blast of fire, moving Jaken forward. He maintained a steady pace across the entire distance, without the aid of the wind blasts that Rin was counting on.

"That isn't fair; you didn't actually make the distance on your own!" Rin protested.

Jaken shrugged. "There is no rule that you cannot use objects to help you. However, they must be self-contained and cannot be attached to the environment." He gestured at her rope. "That is not permitted for this test." He smiled arrogantly. "And I can't say that I would have used the rope that way, either."

Rin growled as Jaken disappeared into the forest. "It would have been nice to know that before." Then she sighed and untied the rope from her waist. It would take much more than her own stamina to get across.

"I wonder if there are any wooden poles around?" She wondered as she walked into the forest, hoping to find something to help her vault the distance.

* * *

Hours later, Rin was no closer to getting to that first blast and she was quickly running out of time.

One of Rin's universal axioms was that Sesshoumaru would always catch her should she fall. She had proved that the previous day, when she intentionally jumped off A-Un. Therefore she was in no danger of dying in the event that she failed the test, but she would be relegated to the 'children and weak' group when they encountered danger. Her entire year would be spent hiding in the background, just as she did so many years ago.

She shook her head. It wouldn't come to that - if she could help it. That was no way to convince Sesshoumaru that she could survive in his world.

Feeling a little dejected, Rin decided to take a bit of a walk on the starting side of the gorge. The sun was beginning to set and she had no more than an hour before Sesshoumaru would be back from his errand. But, she needed to clear her head.

As she meandered back and forth, she tried to think of her options. She was so caught in her thoughts, that she wandered too closely to the edge.

"Ahhh!" Rin cried out as a large gust of wind blew her into the abyss. She reached out to try and grab something from the cliff side to hold onto, but her hands could not find a purchase. Scrabbling, Rin tried to dig her feet into the side, even to stop her descent a little.

Miraculously, her foot caught on a ledge and she was able to grab a small rock outcropping. Clinging to the rocky wall, she scrunched her eyes tight and tried to ignore the wind whistling around her, threatening to send her tumbling again.

Rin surveyed her options: waiting for Sesshoumaru to arrive and rescue her would be equivalent to failing the test; even worse, he might determine that she was too much of a burden and bring her straight back to the village.

As much as she touted that it was her decision whether to leave or stay, she knew that she was only permitted as long as Sesshoumaru tolerated her. Being rescued from such a dilemma would not help her case. She would need to find a way out and quickly, if she still planned on taking the test.

"A-Un!" She called, but her voice was spirited away by the strong winds. The dragon would not being coming for her.

Rin forced herself to open her eyes and examine the path back to the lip of the gorge. There were very few footholds available and without any sort of rope, the situation looked hopeless.

She lifted her foot and tried the nearest foothold available. It seemed sturdy enough, so she tried putting her weight on it. The foothold crumbled and her leg jerked downward, but stopped just before the ledge surface. A second later, her foot was released and settled on the ledge.

"What could that be?" Rin muttered and looked down; there was nothing there that could have possibly caught her foot. She tried lifting her foot to the same level as before and lowering it, but met no resistance. She did this several times, but the result was the same.

"Why can't something be straightforward for once?" She cried, frustrated. In anger, she raised her foot and stomped it down. But this time, her foot was stopped by the same invisible force, that released her only a second later. Quickly, she tried again, but found that it didn't work.

Rin tried stomping her other foot and found the invisible step. It disappeared after a second. She tried again, but the step didn't appear. "Does it only work when you alternate your feet?" It didn't really make sense, for how could a random phenomenon possibly know which foot she was using?

"Maybe it's distance?" She stomped her foot and stepped on the invisible step. After her foot landed back on the ledge, she swung the same foot, but over the empty space off the ledge. Praying that it would work, she stomped and luckily, the invisible pillow appeared. Before the step faded, she brought her leg back within the safety of the ledge.

Taking a minute to breathe, Rin analyzed the situation: there appeared to be a random wind-based behavior that provided resistance when enough force was applied. It didn't seem to work when attempted in a close space, but alternating with large foot steps should provide enough space to keep activating...whatever it was.

Rin looked up at the edge - only a couple meters separated her from the surface. It would not take more than a few iterations of the random foot steps to get her to the top.

Steeling her nerves, she took one giant step, but didn't bring her second foot up in time and she slid back to the ledge, but nearly fell off. She tried again, but this time was able to get a second step in and a third before falling back down to the ledge.

Clearly, this was going to take a bit of time. Rin furrowed her brow in concentration and pushed off again.

* * *

About an hour later, Rin was laying breathless on the ground. It had taken much longer to master stepping on the air cushions than she had anticipated. However, now she knew how she was going to get to the first blast. Now she just needed to do a run-through...

"Ahem." Rin was pulled out of her thoughts by a small cough. She turned her head towards the sound and saw Jaken standing behind her. "Sesshoumaru will be here shortly. If you have not passed the test by then, you will need to wait another year before you can take the test again."

He smirked, "As you have learned, you are clearly out of your league. You should stay where Sesshoumaru-sama tells you to."

Rin snapped back, getting off the ground, "I'll have you know that I have every intention of passing this test and then I won't be left behind with you like a child."

Jaken stuttered, "Im-im-impudent human girl! I am Jaken, the great steward of Sesshoumaru-sama himself! How dare you talk to me that way-"

"Rin." Sesshoumaru had arrived.

The little demon instantly turned to groveling, "Ah, Sesshoumaru-sama. Rin was just about to take the test. I do apologize that we weren't able to run the test earlier; this girl was causing a scene-"

"Do the test and then we will leave." Sesshoumaru cut him off.

Jaken did little to conceal his annoyance about Rin, but ushered her to the starting place. He cleared his throat and then hurriedly said, "We are here today to witness this trainee, Rin, perform _hiko no shiren_, a sacred ritual. Failure will result in death. May the winds be in her favor." He glared at her and then backed away.

With Sesshoumaru and Jaken staring at her back, Rin could feel her nerves getting the best of her. She hadn't even had time to test her theory about getting to the first blast and she certainly hadn't been able to time it properly.

If there was ever a time for luck, this would be it.

She took deep breaths and took a few steps back from the edge. She closed her eyes and tried to listen for the wind blast in the middle of the canyon. After counting one hundred and fifty seconds, she took one last breath, gritted her teeth and sprinted for the edge.

She nearly stumbled as the wind caught her right foot. She pushed off and stretched her left leg as far as it would go. A split second later, she shifted her weight and pushed off the invisible pillow that formed under her left foot, reaching out with her right leg. After a few steps, she developed a rhythm, switching between her feet in a zig-zag sort of pattern.

Rin could hear Jaken's faint complaints and thought she heard "cheating". She smiled as she continued quickly towards the first air blast. Almost there, she realized something was wrong: she had miscalculated the distance to the exact spot. She would miss the blast by a few seconds, which meant she would have to try hopping around for another few minutes - something she wasn't sure her invisible step trick would support.

Trying not to panic, Rin quickened her pace and felt the resistance of the air pockets start to lesson from all the closely clustered steps. She changed tactics: taking three quick steps, she pushed off with both feet on a single jump. Feeling the extra power under her feet, she arched forward into a handspring, praying that this would work.

Her prayers were answered and she was able to finish tumbling, right onto the air blast. Without a second to spare, she was launched into the air again and tossed to the second blast point. Unlike in her practice, Rin had no control over her flight and was unable to orient herself as the second blast tossed her towards the edge of the gorge. With the world spinning around her, Rin was only able to catch a glimpse of her landing zone: the middle of the victory circle.

Unable to do anything about her predicament, Rin closed her eyes and braced for impact.

Instead of painful, metal-spike induced death, Rin felt strong arms pluck her out of the air. Sesshoumaru scooped her up and landed a few feet beyond the victory circle. He let her delicately slide out of his grasp, but kept his arm around her to keep her from falling down.

Jaken landed seconds later with A-Un. Rin looked up hopefully. The little demon grumbled but begrudgingly gave his consent. "Although it was without any refinement and was borderline barbaric, Rin's performance qualifies as a pass."

Rin jumped up and clapped her hands. Then she looked shyly at Sesshoumaru. "I can accompany you now, right?"

Sesshoumaru gave her the same stony stare that he always had. "Do as you wish." He headed off into the forest.

Exhausted, Rin almost mentioned setting up camp, but thought better of it. She could sleep on A-Un. Sleepily, she climbed on the dragon and motioned him to follow Sesshoumaru.

After only a few minutes of walking in the darkening forest, Rin felt her eyelids droop and within seconds, she was slumped over on the dragon's back.

Sesshoumaru turned around and looked back for a minute. Then, he approached the sleeping girl and gathered her in his arms, careful not to wake her.

Jaken muttered his complaints, "You don't need to do that, Sesshoumaru-sama! She can sleep on the dragon; I will make sure she doesn't fall off." He was about to continue when Sesshoumaru shot him an icy glare and Jaken fell silent.

Sesshoumaru walked past and continued into the forest.


End file.
